'interambulacrum' originates from New Latin, formed by the Latin prefix 'inter-' meaning 'between' and the Latin word 'ambulacrum' (from 'ambulare' meaning 'to walk').

'ambulacrum' in classical Latin meant 'a place for walking' or 'walkway'; in Neo‑Latin and scientific usage it was adopted to describe grooves or regions bearing tube feet in echinoderms, and the prefix 'inter-' was added in anatomical descriptions to denote the region between ambulacra, yielding 'interambulacrum' in modern zoological terminology.

Initially related to a 'place to walk' in Latin, the term became specialized in zoology to mean 'the area between ambulacra on an echinoderm's test' in modern usage.